Michael Shavers shot Ashley Harris, 26, and another man as they sat in a car in a Waffle House parking lot in February 2015.A Chattanooga mother's quest to get justice for her daughter ended Friday with a plea agreement that puts her would-be killer on 10 years of supervised probation.
"I don't feel like justice was served," Donna Harris said after Michael Shavers' hearing in Hamilton County Criminal Court. "I mean, he planned this out, he plotted to do it, he threatened to do it, all the evidence was there, and he was originally charged with first-degree attempted murder. The police had to chase him down, get him out of a cave. Then [the prosecutors] reduce it to second offense so he can get probation? That isn't fair."
Harris was referring to the night Michael Shavers shot her daughter, Ashley Harris, 26, and another man as they sat in a car in a Waffle House parking lot in February 2015. After Ashley Harris ended their roughly year-long relationship a few weeks before, Shavers began sending threatening text and Facebook messages and a few pictures of guns and bullets.
Harris shared those messages with Criminal Court Judge Tom Greenholtz in April after learning that prosecutors wanted to give Shavers 10 years on probation in the case because he testified in a different murder case. Shavers faced 15 to 25 years in prison for each count of the Class A felony in this case. Donna Harris pleaded for the judge to reject the agreement, saying her daughter didn't feel safe with Shavers out of jail.
Greenholtz didn't do that, but he delayed the agreement by requesting more information from state probation officers about Shavers' likelihood to commit another crime. He told everyone to return to court Friday. But while he sympathized with Harris, Greenholtz said Friday he couldn't overturn the agreement because his hands were tied.
"The court can see great room for disagreement in the proposed resolution of this case," he said. "I've heard that disagreement articulated very well by Ms. Harris and her daughter. It's articulated very well in the victim impact statements. And the court has a great deal of sympathy, candidly, for [them].
"I don't know what the court would do in a sentencing hearing But that's not what the purpose of today is. The purpose is to determine whether the proposed agreement is so patently unreasonable that the court should exercise its limited discretion [to overturn it]."
After Greenholtz accepted the plea, Ashley Harris wept in the gallery. Her mother stared blankly ahead, rubbing her daughter's shoulder.
Melydia Clewell, a spokeswoman for local prosecutors, declined to comment afterward. Deputy Public Defender Mike Little, who is representing Shavers, said, "we agree with the court's findings and reasoning in accepting the plea agreement."
Shavers apologized for the shooting in a statement in the investigation report Greenholtz requested from probation officers. "I'm taking full responsibility for my actions," he said. "I've truly learned my lesson. I am truly sorry. Nothing like this is ever going to happen again."
That report included a risk assessment, implemented on Jan. 1, 2017, as part of the state's Public Safety Act, that uses a new set of questions and standards to determine whether a person charged with a felony has a high, moderate or low chance of committing another crime.
Overall, Shavers had a low chance of reoffending, according to the assessment, which said he needed the biggest assistance in education.
As part of his plea, Shavers will be on house arrest and have a daily curfew for the next 10 years. If he violates his probation, he could be sent back to prison to serve the remainder of his 10-year sentence. He has been in jail for the better part of three years.
Prosecutors previously said Shavers received a "significant reduction" in his plea agreement because he helped the state in the 2014 Lookout Valley triple homicide cases: Shavers testified against one shooter who is now serving a sentence of life without the possibility of parole, was prepared to testify against another, and showed law enforcement where the murder weapons were hidden in that homicide.
Contact staff writer Zack Peterson at zpeterson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6347. Follow him on Twitter @zackpeterson918.